October 24, 2013

Let’s go back a couple weeks or so, back to when I thought the most stressful thing about the fall would be four birthdays in the same week. We kicked off Birthday Week, the
Friday before it really began. All about birthday traditions, we happily said ,
“Yes!” when my friend Megan suggested that last year’s tea in Leesburg become a
tradition. Yes, ma’am we’d love to do it again this year and every year
forever!

Tea is always fun. The tea house has an authentic vintage
vibe and the ladies are truly British, so it’s the real deal. They’ve gotten their gluten-free menu
down nicely since last year, too.

It’s a nicely illustrated storybook that brings to life a
young Audrey Hepburn who wanted nothing more than to be a ballerina. We see an
age-appropriate glimpse of living in hiding during World War II and then we are
treated to the grown up Audrey—first an actress and then an activist speaking
for children who could not speak for themselves.

It’s a sweet, sweet book. It reminded me of a book my friend
Mindy recommended to me years ago, an Audrey book for grown-ups. Her best friend from home wrote a book
called How to Be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life. It popped up as an Amazon recommendation once for me
and I scrolled through reviews to find Mindy’s name. Since Mindy is pretty much
not on the internet, the whole thing startled me. So, I asked her about it at
soccer one day and she shared a little insight to the author. If you’re an
Audrey Hepburn fan, you’ll love the way Audrey’s philosophy of life is brought
to life in the pages. In Mindy's words,

This is the perfect book to give for birthdays, hostess gifts, Christmas, Mother's day, graduation, or any special event in a woman's life. I sent it home with 15 ladies who attended a baby shower, and it has inspired several Audrey "film-festivals." Her thoughts on how to carry oneself with style, dignity and grace will translate to any generation. "How to be Lovely" should be on every woman's night stand.

So there you go, a little Audrey Hepburn rabbit trail and a
perfectly lovely birthday tea.

September 16, 2013

One of the benefits that comes with having taken the time to archive lessons in years past is that I don't have to start from scratch when I want to begin with a child's interest and take it somewhere constructive. Below is a post from 2007 together with an update and new pictures, written today.

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Next week begins Monday Night Football, noted on my calendar for the entire season as "MNF." Why does a middle-aged mama note Monday Night Football on her calendar? I like to keep track of my husband. He won't be on the couch with a beer and a bowl of chips. He'll be at every Monday Night Football site all season long (with the exception of the double-booked nights--he can't bi-locate so when MNF is at two locations, he's only at one of them;-). As much as we love sports around here and as grateful as we are for this job, this is a very long haul through the fall.

Last year, as my younger children began to figure out the rhythm to Mike's travels, we started moving a Post-it note arrow around on a big wall map so that they could see where he was. But a flat map on the wall doesn't really do much for a child's imagination. They couldn't really picture him where he was working. Kim introduced me to the idea of geography textboxes and I found these wonderful picture books, and an idea was born.

Every week, on Monday, we spend the afternoon reading and writing about the state where Monday Night Football is being played. The books are packed with information and illustrations and pictures. There is a short rhyming verse on each page, perfect for the little ones. The older children spend more time with the book, reading the more involved columns on the page for detail.

The year the baby arrived four weeks into football season. I relied heavily on the idea in these free unit studies which are keyed to the books. This year, I think we are going to focus only on the information in the book during our study time. Each child is creating his or her own book. The books vary according to age and interest and I'm giving the children free reign to pull out of the alphabet books what matters most to them and then to express that in their notebooks.

On Monday evenings, we watch ESPN beginning well before the game. In all honesty, this has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with our Daddy's shows. But, the bonus to our devotion is that we see great scenic shots of the places we've just read in the books. All the way up through the pre-game show and the introduction, there are sights and sounds of the state we've studied.

Finally, as he dashes through the airport on his way home, Mike collects a few postcards from each state to add to the book. All the books we will use for Monday Night Football geography (and plenty more) are linked on the sidebar. Maybe you'd like to travel with us this fall!

Mike is no longer traveling with Monday Night Football. The child whose narration is pictured above is now a second year college student. And I am ever so grateful that I recorded this study when I did, because I was reminded this morning.

Longtime readers will recognize Paddy as the boy who always had a ball at his feet. In the absence of a ball, he had wadded up newspaper, socks, pillows, whatever he could get those feet on. Paddy is playing soccer at UVa now, but the incessant sound of dribbling is still making me nuts on Monday mornings.

"Nicholas, quit kicking."

"Nicholas, keep your feet still."

Nicholas, please try to finish up that lesson."

"Good golly, child, will you PLEASE stop with the dang ball!"

All before 10:00.

Mary Beth looked at me and said "Does this feel like Paddy all over again?"

Indeed.

The big difference is that Paddy was never a huge football fan. He was a huge Daddy fan, but football wasn't a passion. The Monday Night Football hook for him was tracking Dad. Nicholas, on the other hand, is obsessed with all things ESPN, especially football.

"Hey Nick, who plays tonight?"

"Cincinatti and Pittsburgh."

"How about if we study them today? You read these two books and then make two main lesson pages (see Paddy's examples) and we can make football food from Cincinatti and Pittsburgh."

September 13, 2013

Fridays in our house are dedicated to art and Shakespeare. It's my ahhhh at the end of the week. Our Shakespeare studies are outlined here. Look for that whole page to be re-designed. I had trouble following it last week;-)

In our framework for lessons here in the heart of my home, Along the Alphabet Path, art is definitely an every age endeavor. There is more than enough here for everyone. Using Museum ABC as a spine, we have an introduction to 26 great works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For the letter "A" we studied Cezanne's apples.

The Met website does a fabulous job with this particular piece, with a wonderful online lesson. There is an online biography of Cezanne with plenty of information about the artist and his place in the art world.

There are online games and activities and there are suggestions for "on paper" games and activities.

We also really enjoy Mike Venezia's series, Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists. His volume on Cezanne offers plenty of biographical detail so that children can create a notebook page and lovely reproductions that expose them to much more of this artist's work.

The Met site suggests a simple hands-on still life activity. Laurence Anholt's Artists Activity Book poses a charcoal challenge in the spirit of Cezanne. Anybody else find that charcoal is most challenging for mothers? Ah, the mess. Let them make a mess. Say it with me. Maybe we'll believe it. There are activities in the Artists Activity Book for each of the books in the artist series. This book is a keeper!

Finally, for the child who is just super stuck and can't get anything on paper, there's a coloring sheet in Masterpieces: A Fact-Filled Coloring Book that provides the basic forms and lets kids focus on color. .

September 12, 2013

The Apple Cake This is a charming story about an old lady who wants to make apple cake but has plums instead of apples. She chats along and trades, continuing to give up what she has to meet the need of somoene else. Nicholas baked a delicious, yeasty apple cake using the recipe on the back of the book with

Alyosha's Apple This is a lovely fairytale told and illustrated in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. A young orphan girl ventures bravely into the forest to seek healing for her borther.

Rain Makes Applesauce This one is pure whimsy. It was introduced to me by a friend who came to stay in my dorm. Her boyfriend lived in the suite downstairs and when she came from New Jersey during her senior year in high school to visit Patrick Murphy, she slept in my room. Later, she, too, went to UVa and she was a sorority sister of mine. She could quote this whole book by heart and she did frequently when it rained. My friend Patrick died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and somehow this book has become part of our repertoire on that day.

September 10, 2013

Joy in Alabama asked about how we use E is for Eucharist, so I figured today is a good day to share our essential stack of faith books.

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E is for Eucharist is like many of the Sleeping Bear Press alphabet books. There is a picture for each letter of the alphabet which gently introduces a topic. A short rhyming quatrain approaches the topic on the simplest level, perfect for the little ones. Beneath it, there is a narrative paragraph which explores the topic in more depth. My children illustrate each letter's topic as we read and discuss it. Older children can also write or dictate a short narration and even research the topic further.

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An Alphabet of Catholic Saints is a sweet book with a short rhyme about a saint for every letter of the alphabet. Introducing saints alphabetically is a bit awkward. Saints come up in our daily life of worship as they are celebrated in the Mass. I worried aobut this being "all out of order, " but not for long. Now, we use this organizing system and we encounter the same saints on their special days, it's like meeting an old friend. Again, narrations are simple pictures and perhaps a dictated caption to add to their notebooks.

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An Alphabet of Mary beautifully introduces differents names and roles for the Blessed Mother. It's a lovey companion in the same style as the book above.

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That brings me to the Loyola Kids Book of Saints and the Loyola Kids Book of Heroes. These books bless and bless and bless. In the Alphabet Path lesson notes for each letter, we've pulled out the saints who belong. I like to read these aloud to younger children and have slightly older, independent readers read them to themselves. Then, the ones who read it on their own, keyboard a narration all on their own. I'll sit and edit for punctuation and spelling, but I mostly leave the narrations alone. These are gathered and loved into a notebook. True keepers.

September 06, 2013

As we travel along the Alphabet Path, we don't reach the zoo until the very end. But Wednesday was just so beautiful and I knew that it was way too early for anyone to have already organized school field trips and I was pretty desperate to inhale great gulps of fresh air, so I declared that "A is for Animals" and off we went.

Long ago, I promised Stephen that when he finished the entire Apologia Zoology Series, he could give us a tour of the zoo. He was a most impressive tour guide. Seriously, they should hire this kid to sell the series. He learned--and retained-- so very much.

We had a glorious day. Katie was given free reign with the camera. Nearly all the "big camera" photos are hers. And even though we'll revisit the zoo, both in story and for real, at the end of the Alphabet Path, I did bring our just a few zoo books for the occasion.

Zoo: For the youngest set. A very simple introduction to the zoo and the people and animals there.

The View at the Zoo: Darling rhyming book with whimsical illustrations. See the zoo from the animals' perspective.

If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo: A little girl who lives on a hill above the zoo tells various animal keepers to remember that the animals are welcome at her house if ever anything should go wrong at the zoo. There's a flood and...

September 04, 2013

The first couple of weeks of school are always apple-y around here. The Alphabet Path story begins with an apple tree and the fairy who lives there. And, of course, there are apples to pick and apples to make into pie and apples to can for later. The apples where we like to pick aren't quite ready for us yet, but we have our apple books out and we're exploring the science behind all that apple loveliness.

It's my theory that good picture books can completely cover all necessary elementary science. To that end, two favorite apple books are How Do Apples Grow by Betty Maestro and How Do Apples Grow.

Karoline chose How Do Apples Grow, a simple book which follows an apple tree from the bare winter branches until autumn picking time. We read the book and talked about it and then she chose her favorite picture to copy.

Katie chose The Life and Times of the Apple, which is sadly out of print, but worth the hunt. It's a more advanced lifecycle book with excellent detailed illustrations.

November 09, 2012

Are you living a storybook year? Our book-a-day selections for this month come from Chris Scarlett, who graciously shared this list and her notes with me (and you!). A book a day and then some from now until Thanksgiving. Thanks so much, Chris!

Fancy Nancy, Our Thanksgiving Banquet based on Fancy Nancy written by Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Glasser, Fletcher, and Drainville (we completely missed out on this commercial brand, but I think this one is charming for girly-girls and their moms)

One For The Oldest Students:Thanksgiving, The True Story by Penny Colman (nice reference for fact-checking teens or parents)Junior high and high schoolers may enjoy reading some from the previous level aloud to siblings (or children they babysit).

A REWARD IF YOU ARE STILL WITH ME HERE:The Perfect Thanksgiving by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi (Hilarious. Highly recommended. Shhh. We will be reading this one to all the big Scarlett kids on Turkey Day this year. Thankfully, most of our families fall somewhere on the continuum between the extremes of the Martha Stewart-ish and the "redneck" clans depicted here.)

September 28, 2012

In this post, I mentioned that we brought a book back from California. The Grapes Grow Sweet is the story of a family bringing in California grapes at harvest time. Beautifully illustrated with rich, watercolor pictures, the book tells the story of Julian and Adrienne Rossi, two children growing up in the fourth generation on a Napa vineyard. The story is tenderly told and every time I read it aloud to my children, I'm drawn into the warmth of this family and the love and respect they have for the people who work with them. As I mentioned in this post, I'm particularly fascinated by organic and biodynamic farming. In this book, the ecology of the vineyard comes alive, showing the insects and other creatures among the grapevines. The pictures are incredibly detailed and with each reading so far, we've noticed something new. There are some extension resources for the book here that have delighted us in the past week.

My girls were so inspired by this book that we took off last week for an impromptu visit to some Virginia vineyards, hoping to see the harvest gondolas. We headed to Loudoun County vineyards first. I found that people in the two places we stopped weren't terribly responsive to the presence of children, despite their website assurances that they were family friendly.

The next week, we went apple picking in Front Royal and then, popped around the corner to Rappahanock Cellars, a vineyard recommended by Janine in the comments of that post. Rappahanock Cellars is a family-owned vineyard and winery run by the the Delmare family. Since there are twelve kids in that family, they didn't bat an eye when I arrived with six.

We had a wonderful time. We picnicked and ran around and breathed in mountain air scented with grapevine. We had an abbreviated tour (it's harvest season), but then we got to stand at the big picture windows and watch huge mounds of grapes be transported to the hopper for pressing.

The book absolutely came to life! We plan to go back in October because I have hunch it's a particularly wonderful place when the leaves change color. (And because we joined the wine club and opted to pick up our selections;-).

May 16, 2012

One of the pointe pieces Mary Beth and her company danced in the competition a couple of weeks ago and will dance again this weekend, begins with the girls posing inside a larger than life picture frame. They are set as if they were dancers in a painting by Degas. It's a beautiful piece that captivated my little girls. Because they'd heard the piece referred to by its stage name, "Degas," they've been tossing the artist's name around quite freely in the past few days. I decided it was time to pay a little more careful attention to who Degas was and how that real life dance number got its inspiration from an entirely different medium

I read to everyone younger than 15, boys and girls alike, the story of Degas and the Little Dancer. It's a based-on-true tale of a poor young girl named Marie who aspired to be the "most famous dancer in the world." She is enrolled in the ballet school where the famous artist frequently comes to paint. When she doesn't have enough money to continue classes, he asks her to pose. His eyes are failing and he's moved from oils, to pastels, and finally to wax sculptures. And the little dancer does indeed become quite famous, though not in the way she expected.

My children are pretty tuned in to art and the book captivated them. We played ballet music for a few hours while they let their imaginations run a little wild. They drew dancers and then chose to color in pastels or colored pencils. In the spirit of the statue, they wanted to "dress" their art in "real" clothes. So, we sewed some tiny tutus and glued them in place. Very sweet.

Now, I'm looking forward to watching them watch their sister dance this piece again. And I'm going to try to get a picture to add here because I just so love that tableau.

May 11, 2012

A new fishing pier just opened in our neighborhood. We haven't caught anything (yet), but it's definitely a favorite desitination. It was fun to go down there recently and read a favorite fish tale, Higgins Bend Song and Dance.

Higgins Bend Song and Dance is the silly story of outlandish efforts to catch an elusive catfish. The illustrations are big and boisterous and so is the story. It's the kind of book that would have bothered me when I was little because it is so not-true. But it delights my children because, well, I don't know why. What makes a child better equipped to enjoy flights of fancy?

Our fishing pier is on a lake, so we didn't go all out and do river things. But we did talk about the critters who live near our lake. I printed this picture of a great blue heron (our are pretty fabulous) and then read at this site. I clicked on anatomy and showed them the picture and asked them to label their coloring sheets.

We talked about catfish, cheat sheet here. And then we tried our hands at drawing them. Drawings were watercolored. My intention was to do the actual watercoloring on the pier and use lake water, but it was too windy.

Finally, we made up our own tall tales. Again, the children are much better at that then I am. I think I struggle with willful suspension of disbelief.

That's about it for this book, here. Higgins Bend Song and Dance is a Five in a Row selection, so I'm sure there are all kinds of ideas out there if you want to make a whole week of it. We just did our little afternoon and then responded affirmatively to incessant requests for it at bedtime recently.

May 02, 2012

The last couple of weeks, our storybook-a-day has evolved into a rabbit trail of honeybee books. I dug out all out bee books in anticipation of going to meet Ginny's new bees. We read them all and then Katie and Nicky have spent time drawing diagrams and dictating narrations.

I'm doing a little reading of my own, mostly websites just now, looking to see if there's any possiblity of bees in my own backyard. In the combox on Monday, someone begged me to read Fruitless Fall. Leslie, you'll be happy to know it has been auto-delivered wirelessly to my Kindle. If I read this book and I have to move because i can't bear to be without bees, it's on you;-)

April 25, 2012

Crafty Chloe is a new book that catapulted to the top of my children's best-loved list. The story of a little girl whose talent is creating things, Crafty Chloe tells what happens when Chloe is invited to a birthday party, but can't buy the perfect gift. At first, she fakes a case of Chicken Pops. The pictures of her bemused father are darling. (He was modeled after Todd of Oliver + S fame). Then Chloe gets busy building and sewing. She's resourceful, creative, and downright inspiring.

When this book first arrived, I was busy. My three youngest girls squirreled away to read it to themselves. They came bolting upstairs as soon as they finished reading, yelling, "We have to go Crafty Chloe Online!" They were eager to try the craft projects there.

It took me a few grocery trips to find a necessary Clementine box. Ours is cardboard. There are no wooden ones to be found. Then, despite the fact that we were at Home Depot three times a day every day last week, they were all out of "normal" paint stirrers. They were chopping large, industrial ones. I kept holding off, thinking I wanted the shape and size of the smaller ones. Yesterday, between pediatrician and X-rays, I decided to go ahead and get the chopped ones. I only picked up four. I couldn't bring myself to grab more than that.

I left the paint stirrers at home and headed with Nick to X-ray (he's fine). The kids took over and didn't follow the directions at all. We had blue paint left from the closet project. They even saved a stick for Nick to paint. Sarah is devastated that this bed is not pink. Other than that, they're rather pleased with themselves. I think Chloe would applaud as well. (All pictures, Mary Beth's phone pix.)

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And Annabelle? She is charmed by her new bed:-) Annabelle was name for this book, by the way.

I'm dashing out the door this morning. Do you have favorite storybooks with craft themes? How about favorite crafts-with-kids books? Please let us know all about it.

April 18, 2012

My Map Book is a brightly illustrated book of maps--of some unusual places. There are maps of tummies and of the day and of the neighborhood. It's a charming, whimsical book that captivated my little girls.

Nicholas was so bothered by pictures of maps that were distorted. He kind of lost it when the toothbrush was bigger than the school. Nothing was to scale enough to suit Nick. So, I showed him how to draw to scale on centimeter graph paper. And then I sent him up to his room to draw a to-scale map of his own bedroom. Patrick went along to help.

The girls stayed at the table with me and drew maps of their hearts. I wish I had a picture of those finished maps. Alas, I don't. But the girls really enjoyed the project and they'd like to make slightly smaller pictures and collect them into their own map books.

April 11, 2012

Rebecca's Papa has wandering feet. He packs up the family in a covered wagon and they head to Oregon. Along the way, Rebecca gathers scraps of fabric from family and friends, meaningful mementoes of their journey together. When they arrive in Oregon, she quilts all the memories into a lovely blanket. The book was inspired by the pioneer quilt pattern "Wandering Feet."

We had a wonderful time with this one. I sat with a handful of 5 inch fabric squares on my lap and handed one to each of my three listeners every time Rebecca gathered a scrap for her collection. At the end, I added a few more. Then we sat on the floor, they did a little trading, and designed their own small quilts. We stitched them all together for some very lucky baby dolls.

Photo credit: Evelyn Hockstein for the New York Times. Used with Permission.

Photo credit: Evelyn Hockstein for the New York Times. Used with Permission.

March 01, 2012

It was Nicholas, long ago, who insisted we buy The Handmade Alphabet And with this book began our family's plunge into sign language. Before long, the many, many wonderful songs of Signing Time became an integral part of our family culture. The Handmade Alphabet features amazing pictures of human hands signing each of the 26 alphabet letters with a cue in or around them.

February 27, 2012

Extra Yarn is actually a new one, despite my promise to myself not to buy new. I couldn't resist! It's the story of Annabel, who finds a box of yarn that just keeps giving. She knits for the entire town and then starts knitting covers for houses and trucks and trees. Her box of yarn keeps giving and she keeps knitting! Her previously dingy gray town brightens beautifully at the work of her hands. When an archduke offers her huge sums of money for box of yarn, things get interesting.

February 21, 2012

Late last summer, as I was gathering my thoughts on curriculum and trying to plan the year, I hit a wall. Actually, I was probably already flat up against the wall, but the time of year compelled me to do what I'd always done, so I pressed on. But I didn't want to plan. And I wasn't enthused about all the things that had previously sparked so much creative energy. It wasn't exactly burnout. It was more like beaten-out. I hadn't wanted to share learning ideas for over a year, but by last summer, I didn't even want to write them for myself. It just wasn't fun anymore.

I thought about just sending off for several boxes of pre-planned curriculum. And then I consulted the budget. I looked around my house at all the resources we own. I didn't order anything. Nothing. That became the plan. Use what we have and just get the job done.

We have an abundance of picture books. I love picture books. When I was in college, I'd forego the coffee shop in the Student Union Building and head instead to the tiny corner of the adjacent bookstore that was home to the children's books. I saved my latte pennies for a hardbound copy of The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit. Way better. I loved the small room in the Ed School library that was lined with shelves of children's literature. When we were assigned a semester-long project to compile an index card file of children's books, I filled three boxes. Every card was color-coded and annotated and illustrated. I still have those cards. I loved that project.

For over twenty years, I have been inspired by the art and the literature of picture books. I've thrown my whole heart into creating with books, whether it was bulletin boards in a classroom or fullblown unit studies for many ages. Literature-based learning was where I invested most of my creative energy. Some people love their cameras, some their paints, others their yarn or fabric. For me, it was always those beautiful books and the endless possiblities of things we could do with them.

I recalled a conversation with an old friend. Several years ago, we wondered if everything in an elementary curriculum could probably be taught with a good picture book. This year became my year to test the theory. Sort of.

We read widely fromtheselists (and more), both as read-alouds and read alones. Sustaining attention for long stories is a cornerstone of how we learn in our home.

The Montessori maps come out for geography review a couple times a week.

I take the week's copywork from the picture books. I take the poem to memorize that week from a picture book. Every night, each of the three youngest girls chooses two picture books for me to read before going to sleep.

What unfolded is not a curriculum. It's a "freedom within limits" plan that works for us. I share it here to tell you what we've been up to, not so much as to suggest you adopt it. It's entirely real learning in the heart of our home. I thought about all the categories of books, all the subjects typical programs of studies will cover. Also, I was sure to leave some grids for me to add in books I love and just don't want them to miss. I gridded all the different categories in a weekly planning sheet. The sheet has changed several times this year as I add and delete as necessary. I've thoughtfully included the things that are important us, the components of a Charlotte Mason curriculum that I hold dear.

We read the books together or the children read them to themselves. Sometimes, they have books in common on their charts. Sometimes, they have their own particular books. I sit down the weekend before and plan out the week. I key the saints' picture books to the liturgical year. Usually, I'll ask if there is a book they want to read and let them choose within each discipline. Occasionally, I'll gather up the stack myself. It's important for me to gather all the books before the week begins so I don't spend hours looking under couch cushions or behind beds for the books I am certain I just saw.

More often, though, this is not about unit studies, but about a wide banquet of varied topics. If a child is super-interested in something, it's simple enough to scuttle the written plan and dig deeply with more on-topic books. Two important things about scuttling the plan:

There must be a plan to scuttle; this isn't freewheeling and hoping that books thrown everywhere will catch someone's attention.

If you ditch the plan, it's only to do something better. It's never to do nothing. And we need a written plan for the "something better."

Every day, the children respond in writing to at least one book. They can choose a writing project from a long list of projects or they can propose another. Not every book requires a formal response. Some books, we read, we talk about just a little, and then we close it and put it on the shelf. But every day requires some kind of writing. Every day. They might dictate a simple narration. They might peck out their own narrations. They might take off and create an elaborate screenplay. Whatever they choose, they must write something.

With the time that's left in the day, they can choose from other ways to respond to books and get as creative as they like with any book they've read that day or previously. We're busy. We're productive. We're surrounded by good language and great art. And the creative energy has returned to our educational adventures.

It's all good.

Tell me about your book:

Write and tell a friend about the story.

Make a detailed map of the setting of the book.

Is it a circle story? Can you draw it?

Did something really catch your attention? Want to research it further?

If historical, add it to your Book of Centuries. (we do this with every historical book)

Write a letter from the main character to you.

Choose a character you’d like to have as a friend. Write him or her a letter.

Plan & cook something to go with the book

Tell why it would (or wouldn’t) make a great movie.

Describe an incident from it as though you were an on-the-scene TV reporter.

Create a collage.

Make up a rhyming poem about it

Illustrate w/drawings or photos

Explain its funniest (or saddest or most exciting) incident.

Make a new book jacket for the book

Do a puppet show.

Read the book aloud as radio theatre and record it.

Write 3 paragraphs in a diary as if you were your favorite character.

Design and draw costumes for some of the characters.

Design quilt squares to go with the book

Tell what your home would look like if you were one of the main characters.

Write a biography of one of the characters.

Write a human interest story about one of the characters in the book.

Write a letter to the editor about an issue in the book.

Create magazine ad for the book.

Create a television ad for the book

Draw it into newspaper cartooning squares.

Play charades w/themes from the book

Pretend a character had made an important decision differently. Write a new ending.

Make a list of facts you learned in the book

Write an Amazon review.

Plan a field trip inspired by the book

Compare versions of the same story.

Compare the book to the movie version

Make peg dolls to go with the book.

Compare it to another book the author/illustrator has written. This might be a comparison of art or of the story.

Use its title to write your own story.

Write a letter to the author

Pretend you are the author. Write a publisher, pictching your book.

Picture books make me happy. This blog is for sharing what makes me happy. I can't promise you a book a day. There's no way I'm going to post big plans for every book. I do hope to share a little of our picture book love on a regular basis here. A quick review, a picture or two, some ideas on where the book took us--little snapshots of books we all love. I know that not all my readers are homeschoolers. I'm certain, though, that these books can enrich the lives of all the children we love.

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Why?

...that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in love, to have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures or wisdom and knowledge. ~Col 2:2

FULL DISCLOSURE

If you click through an Amazon link on this blog and subsequently make a purchase, I will receive a small credit from Amazon. I will be very grateful for this credit and will use it purchase still more books and such to share with you. An eternal circle of Amazon life, you might say:-)